The driver of one Tesla THE person who beat a Melbourne nurse two years ago has been sentenced to nine months in prison, after admitting responsibility for the incident, which she initially blamed on the car’s ‘Autopilot’ system.
On the morning of March 22, 2022, Nicole Lagos was hit by a car. Tesla Model 3 driven by Sakshi Agrawal after stepping onto the street to board a tram on Wattletree Road in Armadale.
Police allege Ms. Agrawal accelerated to nearly 80km/h to flee the scene, only returning two hours later after being persuaded by her partner to surrender.
ABC News reports that Ms. Lagos was left fighting for her life after the accident and was later diagnosed with permanent brain injury as a result of the impact.
Over the past two years, Ms. Agrawal has steadfastly insisted that her Tesla’s ‘Autopilot’ semi-autonomous driving system was at fault in the accident, even doubling down on saying that Ms. Lagos jumped in front of her car. me.
However, the 25-year-old filed a guilty plea last month, admitting she had full control over everything and that Autopilot was not involved.
An investigation into the crash found that the car’s Autopilot system was inoperative for up to 30 seconds before impact and that its sensors detected a pedestrian and issued relevant warnings before she Lagos was hit.
Victorian District Court Judge Peter Rozen sentenced Ms Agrawal to nine months in prison last weekend, on charges of dangerous driving causing serious injury and failing to stop after a motor vehicle accident.
While Judge Rozen said Ms Agrawal was not at risk of re-offending, he warned other young drivers that poor decisions could have direct consequences.
“The court must send a message, especially to young drivers,” Judge Rozen said in handing down the sentence. ABC News.
“The tragic reality is that this court has handled too many cases like this one.”
With Ms. Agrawal admitting guilt, Australia has yet to try any cases related to accidents caused by Autopilot.
Many high-profile lawsuits in the US focus on Autopilot use in fatal accidents.
In July 2023, a court found that the driver of a Tesla Model S sedan who ran a red light and killed two people in a crash was at fault for the incident, not the Autopilot system that was activated. at that time.
This is next in November Tesla was also cleared of fault in the fatal accident that killed the Model 3 driver after the electric sedan ran off the road and crashed into a tree at a speed of 105km/h – also when Autopilot mode was activated.
Last monthTesla has reached an undisclosed settlement with the family of an Apple engineer who was killed when his Model is active.
An investigation by the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) found that the driver of the Tesla made no effort to change the vehicle’s trajectory in the moments before the crash, because he We were playing video games on our smartphones before the fatal collision.
